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Remembering Pete Seeger, from Woody Guthrie to Occupy Wall Street

Remembering Pete Seeger, from Woody Guthrie to Occupy Wall Street

There's so much to express about one of my heroes, Pete Seeger, who passed away, apparently peacefully, in New York at the age of 94. Despite his advance age, this still came as a shock, since he'd been out and about not long ago and scheduled for events not far from my home--he lived just up the river from me, that river being the Hudson. Of course, I once boarded his famous sloop, the Clearwater.

Just last week I was trying to find a way to contact him. The film I co-produced about the political influence of Beethoven's Ninth, Following the Ninth, is screening on February 27 up in Rhinebeck, very near his home in Beacon. In the film, Billy Bragg sings his new right-on lyrics to the "Ode to Joy," something Pete had done long ago, and I wondered if I might coax Pete into the cold for a few minutes to sing a few bars after the screening. Here's Pete singing it long ago:.

Now here he talks about his old friend Woody Guthrie, as he promoted his songs and legend, then largely forgotten.

And to complete this circle, here's Pete just two years ago at the end of his march for Occupy Wall Street, which ended in Columbus Circle with a kind of birthday party for Pete, video shot by pal and noted filmmakrer Sandi Bachom.

Further

In the vile wake of Charlottesville - those sweaty young white men, pasty faces contorted, screaming, "Blood and Soil!" "Jews Will Not Replace Us!" "Fuck You Faggots!" - what to say? Just this: This is racism, domestic terrorism, pure hate. This is not who we are, and this is not ok. Most vital, those "whose pigmentation matches theirs" must speak "with unflinching clarity (or) we simply amen it... They need white faces speaking directly into their white faces, loudly on behalf of love."

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